Tuesday, January 8

Malaysia’s
most decorated war hero Kanang Anak Langkau could have died as a pauper as his
military services – helping to liberate Malaya (and later Malaysia) from the
communists were not respected as a hero should be until he and few other war
heroes made noise complaining that they had been treated shabbily both by the
Federal Government and Sarawak State Government.

Their
contributions were not financially recognized – not even a sen and their
welfare were not taken care of, as compared to financial rewards and other
perks given to communist terrorists who surrendered.

The heroes
were 21 holders of Panglima Gagah Berani (PGB) with 16 survivors. Of the total
there are two Chinese army officers, one Bidayuh, one Kayan, one Malay and 14
Ibans. But the majorities in the Armed Forces are Malays, according to a book –
Crimson Tide over Borneo. The youngest of the PGB holder is ASP Wilfred Gomez
of the Police Force.

There were six
holders of Sri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa from Sarawak, and with the death of
Kanang Anak Langkau, there is one SP holder in the person of Sgt. Ngalinuh (an
Orang Ulu).

Kanang Anak
Langkau was the holder of both the SP and PGB. Their contributions were
initially not rewarded, not even a sen except they received pensions like other
retired civil servants.

The heroes
were not even invited to attend national day celebrations.

Angered by the
ill-treatment, Kanang even refused ‘Datukship’ offered to him saying he was a
poor man and could not afford to receive the title of ‘Datukship’.

Their woes got
the attention of the MP for Lubok Antu Jawah Gerang who raised the issue in
Parliament some time in 1980s. Approved by the government, a PGB holder was
given a monthly allowance of RM300 and a SP holder RM400.

For PGB
holders like Sgt Dajai Angie, their allowances were backdated to 1973. (Dajai
was given the bravery medal in 1971).

In 2006, a
delegation of the heroes from Sarawak met with the Defence Minister Najib Tun
Razak and appealed to increase their monthly allowances by RM700.

Instead of accepting
their recommendation, Najib who was also
the Deputy Prime Minister decided to more than double the increase of the
allowance by RM1,600. The issue was brought to Parliament and approved. Thus, a
SP holder receives RM2,000 a month, while a PGB holder receives RM1,900 a month.

For his
knowledge in Iban traditions and customs, Kanang was later made a Temenggong
for the Iban community of Sri Aman division and last year he was conferred a
Datukship by the state government.

Kanang passed
away at the age of 68 at the Sarawak General Hospital on Thursday morning after
complaining of chest pains. He was buried today (Jan 6) with full military honours
at the Heroes’ Grave at Jalan Budaya, Kuching.

Meanwhile messages
of condolences and sympathy have been received by the family of the late Kanang
from government leaders including from Najib Tun Razak and Chief Minister Abdul
Taib Mahmud.

Born in 1945
in Julau, Kanang joined the Sarawak Rangers as an Iban tracker in 1962. (He was
among those recruited by the late Bennett Jarrow). Sarawak Rangers was then
part of the British Army and later absorbed into the Malaysian Army’s Royal Ranger
Regiment upon the formation of Malaysia in September 1963.

In an incident
in Perak on February 8, 1980 a soldier was killed. Kanang leading a platoon was
sent to track the enemy down and destroy them. For eleven days they followed
the enemy until they stumbled upon a much larger enemy force.

In the ensuing
fight, Kanang and his men killed five communists and with one loss of the side
of the Rangers with Kanang himself was shot three times.

Kanang’s
battle cry ‘Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban’ (as long as I live, I shall fight) inspired
his men and other soldiers to fight to death in the defence of the nation.

For his
bravery, Kanang was awarded the nation’s two highest awards Sri Pahlawan
Perkasa (SP) and the Panglima Gagah Berani (PGB) by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong
Sultan Ahmad Shah in June 1981.

He retired as
Warrant Officer One (WOI) after serving the army for more than 21 years.

Approximately
50% of the annual state development expenditure is allocated to this trust
fund.

In
the year 2006, RM520,000,000 out of total development expenditure of
RM1,969,822.400 was allocated to the trust fund; in
2007 RM1,257,000,000 out of RM2,294,174,000 was allocated; in 2008, the
amount was RM1,719,083,100 out of RM2,864,929,300, and in 2009, it was
RM1,825,061,000 out of total development
expenditure of RM3,075,368,900, and for 2010, the amount allocated was RM1,072,409,800
out of RM2,776,681,600.

For
the 2011 state budget, the amount allocated was RM1,416,475,000 out of the
total development expenditure of RM3,630,305,950, and in the year 2012, the
allocation shot up to RM1,709,463,00 out of RM3,262,759,580 of development
expenditure.

And
this year the state government has allocated RM1, 853,687,500 out of RM3,
407,339,183 of the state development expenditure.

The
total amount allocated to the fund is RM11, 373,179,400 out of RM23,
281,380,913 of total development expenditure for the eight years of state budgets.

Despite
the large amount allocated, Taib (State Finance Minister) has refused to
disclose who are these so-called ‘agencies’ receiving the ‘contributions’ from
the government.

All
we were told is that the ‘approved agencies’ are body corporate, companies or
organisations which have been approved in writing by the Chief Minister to
promote the economic, social or educational advancement of the state.

It
can be private companies or cronies or family companies who have received such
fund. To many BN politicians, advancement of family business is often equated
to ‘economic advancement of the state’. That is why hundreds of acres of State
land have been alienated to the crony companies at as low as 10% of the
prevailing market prices.

Why
is the State Government refusing to disclose the identities of those who have
received the funds?

Sarawakians
have lost RM10 billion to this State budget ‘black hole’ over the last seven
years and another RM1.8 billion this year.

Had
this RM10 billion not gone into this black hole, the RM10 billion could be used
to:

-Upgrade
Pan Borneo Highway to four-lane for the whole of Sarawak;

-Provide
10,000 full overseas medical scholarships;

-Build
100,000 of units median-cost houses, easing the financial burden of the people;

-Give
RM3,700 to every Sarawakian;

-Build
20 equivalents of Sarawak General Hospital;

-Pay
20 years of salaries for all Sarawak state civil servants ; or

-Build
2,000 A-grade schools……

(Note: These details are in the
DAP flyer and will be distributed to voters in order to raise their awareness
on the blunders made by the state government. More of such flyers will be
distributed from time to time as part of its campaign strategy).

Saturday, November 24

The Bruno Manser Fund wants
Sarawak Energy Bhd to declare its finances, contracts and funders linked to the
development of mega dams in Sarawak.

KUCHING: Swiss-based NGO Bruno
Manser Fund (BMF), which has been at the forefront of a global campaign against
Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s land “development” policy which has
stripped the state’s verdant rainforest and displaced thousands of indigenous
natives, is calling for an independent external review of the Bakun, Bengoh and
Batang Ai dams.

It is also demanding for a
moratorium on all Sarawak dam construction and for Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB), a
key player in the development, to sack its chairman, Hamed Abdul Sepawi.

BMF also wants SEB to declare its
finances, contracts and funders.

It is also exerting pressure on
foreign corporations, which it alleged were closely linked to Taib’s global
business empire, to shun the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE)

In a report released today
entitled “Sold Down the River. How Sarawak Dam Plans Compromise the Future of
Malaysia’s Indigenous Peoples”, BMF disclosed that many of companies involved
were closely linked to Taib and to his family-linked Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS).

“Foreign corporate actors, such
as Australia’s Hydro Tasmania, Snowy Mountains Engineering Company (SMEC), GHD,
the US consultant MWH Global, Norway’s Norconsult, Germany’s Fichtner and
construction companies such as China’s Three Gorges Corporation and Sinohydro have
concluded a ‘pact with the devil’ and are assisting the Taib government with
its dam projects,” it said.

The report also named the
“funding agencies” behind the Sarawak dam plans to include RHB Bank, EON Bank
and AmInvestment Bank alongside Kuwait Finance House and Kenanga Investment
Bank, which is a joint venture between CMS and Deutsche Bank.

The report further examined the
dam plans that form part of SCORE, which is seen as “Southeast Asia’s most
ambitious and most expensive energy project”.

The project, BMF noted, has a
“planned investments of up to US$105 billion by 2030”.

According to BMF, some tens of
thousands of indigenous people affected by the massive project are facing
forced displacement from their traditional lands.

Sarawak has ‘excess’ power

The report noted that under the
guise of “development”, the Taib government is planning to virtually dam all
the rivers in the state’s interior, irrespective of the social and
environmental implications.

“The dam plans are being pushed
ahead under a cloak of secrecy. If implemented, they would entail the cultural
genocide of a significant part of Sarawak’s rich indigenous culture,” it said.

A first series of 12 dams is
currently being implemented by SEB, which holds monopoly on the state’s power
supply.

The report stressed the fact that
Sarawak is already facing a “excess power” situation.

“The current peak demand in
Sarawak is around 1,000 megawatts (MW) and is thus far less than the power that
can be produced by the recently completed Bakun dam alone, which, with a
capacity of 2400 MW, is Asia’s largest dam outside China.”

BMF said that the Taib government
and SEB, as the implementing agency, were facing increasing opposition from the
affected communities.

“Representatives of SAVE Rivers,
a Sarawak network set up to fight the Taib government’s dam plans, are
currently embarking on a tour through Australia.

“The Hydro
Tasmania-out-of-Sarawak tour is aimed at increasing the pressure on
publicly-owned Hydro Tasmania, one of the most important corporate actors
involved in the Sarawak dam plans,” it noted.

On Tuesday, Save Rivers chairman
Peter Kallang said the tour aimed to enlighten Australians on the situation
with the dams and urge the locals to pressure the Australian government into
compelling Hydro Tasmania to rescind its decision to participate in the
venture.

Tuesday, November 13

Former
leaders of deregistered PBDS claim there are still 100,000 ex-members who are
awaiting its registration and return.

KUCHING:
Is the revival of the de-registered Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) a threat
to James Masing-led Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS)? Is that why PRS
secretary-general Wilfred Nissom unleashed a volley of questions at its former
PBDS leaders?

In a SMS
message to FMT following reports that former PBDS leaders had met up at a
reunion dinner and the party’s status was discussed, Nisson asked: “What are
these ex-PBDS members up to in reviving the party?

“Is it a
response to PRS’s stance? Or is it going to contribute to Dayak solidarity?”

Nissom
said it is crucial that protem officials of PBDS Baru, which is pending
registeration, explain their status.

“Is it
[PBDS Baru] going to contest PRS’ claim of being the continuation of PBDS?

“Or is it
going to recover the Dayak majority seats that PRS cannot claim back due to the
fact that PRS is a member of the Barisan Nasional?

“How PBDS
Baru chooses to answer these questions will determine whether the party can be
said to be good or otherwise for Sarawak and Dayaks in particular,” he said.

PBDS was
deregistered on Oct 21, 2004 when Masing, who was then PBDS publicity chief and
Sng Chee Hua, then PBDS senior vice-president, were attempting to dislodge
Daniel

Tajem as
PBDS president in the 2003 party triennial delegates’ conference.

Tajem’s
team mate was Joseph Salang.

100,000 members partyless

The
challenge created an unresolved leadership crisis which led to the party to be
deregistered in October 2004. It was the same day Masing formed PRS.

Masing is
the PRS president.

Of
148,000 members, some 40,000 are now with PRS and other parties including BN
component parties.

But more
than 100,000 of them have remained partyless until today and their anger
against Masing is just like the “embers of a fire”. They have blamed Masing for
the crisis.

Masing,
they said, chose to side with Sng instead of Salang.

In the
effort to get rid of Tajem, Masing cooperated with Sng to destroy PBDS and was
blind to the real character of Sng.

The Ibans
likened Masing’s association with Sng to “Kumang nupi sawa” (Kumang
rearing a python) which in the end would devour him.

(When
they formed PRS, Sng, who was deputy president then, tried to get rid of Masing
in May 2006. Sng’s efforts almost landed PRS in big trouble including
deregistration)

Meanwhile,
responding to Nissom’s questions, Louis Jarau, protem president of PBDS Baru,
said there is nothing for Nissom or PRS to be afraid of as their efforts to
register PBDS Baru do not concern him or his party.

“We are not disturbing other people. We just want the party to be registered.
Is anything wrong with that?

“It is
yet to be registered, so why are you so concerned with PBDS Baru?” he said,
pointing out that PRS should be more concerned with the coming general election
as Sarawak Workers Party is after them.

PBDS Baru no concern of PRS

Jarau
said that the purpose of reviving the party was to continue with the struggle
left unfinished with PBDS’ deregistration.

“We don’t
want to pick quarrel with anybody. Whosoever is partyless and shares our
struggle can join our party once it is registered.

“As a
Dayak-based party, PBDS Baru will be the platform for the Dayaks to voice their
concerns. This will be the difference between PBDS Baru and PRS which is a
multi-racial,” he said.

He
lamented that as of now no party, especially in BN, has expressed concern over
the way the Dayaks are being treated.

On the
coming election, Jarau said: “We never think about it. Our priority is to get
the party registered.

“If it
cannot be registered under this present government, we will wait for a new
government that can be more sympathetic to our cause.

“I am
sure things will change after the general election,” he added.

Before
its deregistration, PBDS was the second biggest party in the state BN at one
time with 15 state assemblymen and nine MPs.

According
to Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian, last week Taib said that 48% of the land mass
in the state was still covered with forest.

The same
Taib in a YouTube video posted last year claimed that 70% of Sarawak’s forest
was intact, which is equivalent to about 8.68 million hectares (ha). This year
the figure is 6 million ha.

“This
means that in just over one year, 2.68 million ha of our forest has been
destroyed. Is the chief minister intending to continue clearing what is left?

“Will the
figure next year be five million ha? What about the disastrous consequences of
the deforestation that have been carried out to date?” asked Bian.

Sarawak’s
total land mass is about 12.4 million ha.

Taib’s
statement also contradicts comments made by Awang Tengah, who is Resource
Planning and Environment Second Minister, on the same issue.

Bian said
in February this year, Awang Tengah declared proudly at the World Wetlands Day
celebrations that the state is more than 80% covered with forest.

He also
declared that the state has targeted to turn some one million ha of its natural
forest by 2020 into totally protected areas in the form of national parks and
wildlife sanctuaries.

A further
six million ha will be left untouched to become permanent forest while another
two million ha has been approved for forest rehabilitation programme.

“Now
we’re left confused. If the chief minister says that there is only six million
ha of forest left and Awang Tengah says one million ha will be turned into
totally protected areas and six million ha will be left untouched, then all
logging activities should stop immediately to preserve the six million ha that
is left.

“But that
still leaves us with one million ha short for the totally protected areas.

“Clearly,
the authorities do not wish to disclose the statistics to the public, judging
from the conflicting figures presented to the public.

“Perhaps
they do not know themselves how much of our forests is left. At the same time,
they deny the claims of environmentalists that judging from satellite images,
Sarawak has lost up to 90% of its primary forest cover.

“The land
belongs to the people of Sarawak and the authorities have been entrusted to
manage and protect this precious lifeline of the people.

“The
least they can do is to disclose the accurate figures to the public instead of
giving us such confusing and conflicting figures,” Bian said.

Define ‘forests’

He said
the conflicting statements are not helping dispel people’s growing distrust of
the BN government.

Already
hogging the alternative media headlines and online Radio Free Sarawak
broadcasts are widespread allegations of land grabs and self-enriching projects
by those in power.

Said
Bian: “There are now more questions than answers. What are they to do with the
countless number of people displaced and dispossessed by logging and plantation
companies which are now fighting for their NCR lands?

“What
about the destruction of the habitat of wildlife by these companies and the
loss of the sources of food and medicinal plants for the people who live off
the land?

“And the
pollution and silting of the rivers caused by the logging activities and the
resulting loss of fish and aquatic life?”

He also
questioned the quality of the remaining forest and urged the government to
define the term “forest”.

“Do
planted forests and plantations come under the government’s definition of
‘forest’?

“How much
of the merchantable timber is left? In many areas, the natives are left with
low-grade timber which they cannot use for building their houses or boats.

“The
other burning issues for me are how much of the land in Sarawak are plantation
land, and protected forests and how much of the protected areas have been
excised for plantations by the government,” said Bian, who is also Ba’Kelalan
assemblyman.

Monday, October 22

The state
government claims that they have created 2,000 millionaires through the Native
Customary Rights JV concept, but others claim they are only paper millionaires.

KUCHING:
The Sarawak government claims that they have created 2,000 millionaires through
the new Native Customary Rights concept but detractors say they are “paper
millionaires”

Sarawak
PKR chairman Baru Bian says that they are only paper millionaires.

He was
refuting claims by assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Office
(Bumiputera Entrepreneur Development) Mohd Naroden Majais’ statement that 2,000
participant in the NCR exercise were now millionaires.

Naroden
had said that through the NCR land development and new concept through JV,
about 2,000 landowners who have 50 acres and above now are holding assets worth
a million ringgit.

“Therefore,
we can say that the scheme has created not less than 2,000 rural Bumiputera
millionaires,” the assistant minister had said.

Bian who
is also the Ba’Kelalan assemblyman said: “His statement is misleading. In terms
of acreage you may say they are ‘paper millionaires’.

“The
truth is that they are ‘bankrupt millionaires’, because they have not been paid
their dues by the investors and government agency’s agent like Pelita or LCDA
(Land Custody Development Authority).

“Two
cases had been nullified by the court including the brain child NCR land
project of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud in Machan, Kanowit.

“After
nine years the investors said that there are no profits so there are no
dividends, so what millionaires is he is talking about?

Commenting
on the same issue, Patrick Sibat Sujang, a former NCR land development
committee member of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) accused the assistant minister
of misleading the people.

“While on
paper, the value of the land could be worth millions of ringgit, but it is
useless and meaningless to the landowners as under the JV concept, the
landowners had surrendered their land to the JV companies.

“As the
landowners have no rights to their land, they are now at the mercy of the
investors. They cannot sell their land or get back their land.

“To me
the landowners are condemned to poverty for the next 60 years,” said Sujang,
pointing out that some landowners received no dividend at all.

“Even if
some of them are paid dividends, it is far below the poverty line, and some
scheme participants in Lubok Antu received less than RM10 worth of dividend per
year,” he said.

“Tell me
how the landowners can become millionaires under this concept?

Sujang
believed that the only way the landowners can become rich is for the new
concept to be replaced by a rental system.

Monday, October 15

The de
facto law minister says that stern action will be taken against any one that
fan racial and religious hatred in the country.

TAIPING:
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz has given a final
warning to all quarters to stop harping on the sensitive issues of race and
religion or face legal consequences.

“This is
my last warning to all to stop harping on racial and religious issues and I
don’t want to repeat this again,” said Nazri.

“As the
law minister, I shall ensure that stern action is taken against any quarters
that fan racial and religious hatred (among the various races in the country)”
he said.

He was
speaking at a fund raising dinner organised by the Persatuan Kebajikan See Hai
Keng Si Trong in Simpang here on Saturday night. The event was attended
by leaders from Umno, Gerakan and Pakatan Rakyat, which included Taiping MP Nga
Kor Ming.

Nazri
said that after 55 years of independence, the nation should not be divided
along racial or religious lines and the government would not tolerate such
hatred to divide the racially united country.

The Umno
leader also said that all the races in the country were rightful citizens of
Malaysia and there should be no racial discrimination by calling the Chinese
and Indians as “pendatang” as they have also contributed greatly to the
economic growth of the nation.

He called
all quarters to think as one Malaysian race as propagated by Prime Minister
Najib Tun Razak’s slogan of 1Malaysia for the nation to progress towards vision
2020.

Nazri
also contributed RM100,000 to the Persatuan’s fundraising campaign while other
political leaders also chipped in with their contributions.

Nazri, in
his speech, paid glowing recognition to the contributions of the Chinese
community who had played a major role in contributing to the fast economic
development of Malaysia.

He said
the two states of Kenya and Uganda in Africa had also attained independences
during the same time when Malaysia received her Merdeka but the African states
did not progress economically like this nation.

He
reasoned that had the Chinese community made their presence felt in the two
African states, than these states would have progressed economically well like
Malaysia.

- Source: Free
Malaysia Today.

Comment: He appears to be giving warning after
warning. So far no action has been taken against religious fanatics. We are
waiting for his action!

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

Followers

Subscribe To

Quote of the day

The Broken Shield was launched on 16 Dec 2007

To order, please email to tawiejoseph@gmail.com

DISCLAIMER:

Dear readers, all commments are welcome but will be MODERATED. Please take note that comments that are too derogatory, too racialist in nature and too personal will be disallowed. Comments/views expressed are not those of the blog owner. Thank you.